GATLINBURG, TN - DLiA is excited about its 2020 Great Smoky Mountains National Park Science Colloquium, an annual research symposium co-hosted by Discover Life in America and the park. This free event highlights scientific research taking place in and around the Smokies. The Colloquium will be held on Thursday, March 12th at 9 AM at the Park Vista hotel in Gatlinburg. More information and free registration can be found at dlia.org.

The Science Colloquium is a chance for members of the public to learn about the variety of science taking place in the park and to chat with the local and regional scientists that conduct this work. Scientists from the University of Tennessee, the University of North Carolina, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the US Forest Service, and a number of other regional institutions will present about the work that they do in the park. Topics will include how wildfires have affected some of the region’s animal and plant communities; genetic tools for inventorying park species and safeguarding them against threats like invasive species; how historic logging in the Smokies continues to affect the forest landscape there; and more. The full list of speakers and topics can be found at dlia.org/event/park-science-colloquium-2020. The event is free, but attendees are encouraged to register through this webpage.

DLiA co-organizes the Science Colloquium as part of its commitment toward promoting the importance of biological diversity in the Smokies region, considered to be one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in North America. DLiA manages the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) in the park, aimed at cataloging all the animals, plants and other organisms living in the Smokies. More than 20,200 species have been documented there so far, but there are an estimated 60,000-80,000 total species living in the park, and so the work continues. Insight gained from the ATBI helps park management to better understand and protect the species that make the Smokies so special.

DLiA’s mission is to discover, understand, and conserve biological diversity. DLiA’s flagship project, the ATBI (All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory), is a joint effort with the National Park System to identify and understand every species within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. To date, DLiA has helped add over 10,000 species to the inventory of life in the park, 1,022 which are new to science.